Tag Archives: prayer

Hope

Uncategorized, , ,

By Kristen Mudrack

I was reminded this week that Advent is a season of waiting with expectant joy and hope for the promised Messiah. The Israelites didn’t just have to wait four weeks, though. They waited nearly 2,000 years. Generations came and went before their hope was realized in a baby in a manger.

Perhaps this year, we understand waiting a little bit more. Waiting for things to go back to normal. Waiting for things to change. Waiting for 2021.

Waiting isn’t the thing I’ve had a hard time with. While the world is at my fingertips on my phone or my computer, I have always had to wait for something (and in the waiting, work for something). Waiting hasn’t been my problem this year – hoping has been.

I have found myself expectantly waiting for something – something good – and my hope has been dashed. Day after day, week after week, month after month. I have found myself wondering if I should hope at all, or if it would be better to give up this dream and move on.

The Israelites had been promised a Messiah, but generation after generation their hope was dashed, their priests and prophets disappointed that there wasn’t a Son of David on the throne. But while they were looking for a king, God sent a servant in the form of a baby. He wasn’t what they had expected, but he was what they needed, even if they didn’t know it then.

I have not been promised the thing that I hope for. That is the cold, hard truth. What I hope for may never come to pass. But perhaps in the waiting, God will reveal something better, something I don’t even know is possible. But that doesn’t make hope any easier for me.

Hope is hard. Hope is fragile and raw. It is difficult and hard and takes everything you have. And when that hope is dashed, shattered into pieces on the floor, I have to choose the hard thing again: hope. Not blind, but prayerful, expectant hope, that the One who makes all things new will renew hope in me again and again and again, to the glory of His name.

May you hope anew today, no matter what it is you are hoping for. May you pray expectantly and listen to the voice of the one who came to Earth as the one we needed, though not the one we expected.

Even If…

Testimony, Truth, ,

By Kristen Entwistle

Have you ever prayed for something, something big – and waited and waited and waited for God to grant your request, and then been devastated when it felt like He didn’t come through?  Maybe you’ve been praying for the financial means to buy a house, healing for a child or a parent or yourself, for the opportunity to change jobs, for God to bless your family with a child, for God to bring a friend into your life that might become something more, for that ministry event you’re planning to be well-attended.

Let me be abundantly clear:

God ALWAYS answers your prayers.  

ALWAYS.  

It’s just that He doesn’t always answer

the way that we want Him to.  

Sometimes the answer we get isn’t what we think we need.  But it’s what God knows we need.  With whatever is going on in your life right now – whether it is big or small, wonderful or difficult – take heart that He does hear your prayers, your cries, your praise.  Remember that His time is not ours, and that He has a bigger plan.

Kutless sings a song called Even If.  The chorus says these words:

Even if the healing doesn’t come

And life falls apart

And dreams are still undone

You are God, You are good,

Forever faithful One

Even if the healing,

Even if the healing doesn’t come.

Even if…

…you’re still renting an apartment and can’t afford a house right now, He is working in it for His glory.

Even if…

…the new job doesn’t pan out right now, ask for God to use you where you are right now.

Even if…

…God doesn’t heal your son or daughter, put your trust in Him and ask for His strength to get you through each day, and to see the good that comes of your struggle.

Even if…

…you’re still single and alone, God’s got a plan.  And His love is one that will never fail, never disappoint you, and never run away.

Even if…

…you haven’t been blessed with a child, run to God, who has it all in His hands.  Find comfort in Him today.

Even if…

…one person shows up to that ministry event, remember that God has used you in that person’s life.  And that was worth it.

Even if…

I will still praise You, because You are good.  I will still trust You, because You are faithful.

And I will actively look for the ways that You are working ALL things for the good of we who love you.  I will let you use my circumstances, my struggles, my life to bless others, and to work out Your plan in their lives and in mine.  Even when the healing doesn’t come.

even if